Understanding John the Baptist

There is not all that much about him in the Bible really and I would like to understand more about him and his life. If anyone could recommend good books I would appreciate it.

So did he heal the sick, did he preach of the love and goodness of God? I would like to know what his teachings were and why people wanted to be baptized by him. He baptised so many, Jesus baptised nobody as far as I can tell.

Anyone's thoughts and any biblical evidence would be of interest.

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. . KJV — Malachi 4:5-KJV — Malachi 4:6

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.. KJV — Matthew 11:11-KJV — Matthew 11:15

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
18 And Zacharias. KJV — Luke 1:13-KJV — Luke 1:18

I believe this will work out to be a rich study for you, highly praised by Jesus himself.

We do know John got depressed, and started doubting whether he had got it right. When you're in jail waiting to be killed, that can happen.

What is very interesting to note is, Jesus did NOT miraculously release John. Almost as though living a long time isn't really as important as we think.

Here is a link that you may find helpful.

Some of the prophecies about the Messiah portray him as a suffering servant while other portray him as being a conquering king, which led some to think that there would be two Messiahs: Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah Ben David. John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the lamb who would take away the sins of the world, which means that he knew that Jesus was the the suffering servant and that John was not doubting that he was the Messiah, but he was rotting in prison wondering whether Jesus was also the conquering king.

It isn't at all, it is quality not quantity of life that is surely the thing.

All the more wonderful and mysterious considering they were cousins, not strangers. They must have known each other through childhood, after all they met while John was still in the womb